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A Christmas Story - Part 2

Neil Amonson, shares his KAVU version of Christmas spirit!

By KAVU

January 24^th, 2017

California!

Next flying destination was a spot called Torrey Pines just north of San

Diego. It has a beautiful grass launch overlooking from the sea cliffs to the beach landing

area down below. Once again luck was on our side and while conditions were light,

there was enough wind to safely launch and fly for a few minutes before landing down

on the beach. A funny note is this is also the local nude beach, so while flying if you

look down, you might see some “unique” views.

A Christmas Story - Part 2

A Christmas Story - Part 2

A Christmas Story - Part 2

A Christmas Story - Part 2

After taking our shoes off and walking along the beach for a while it was time to work

back up the sea cliffs to continue on with our journey. Luckily there is a nice path for the

surfers that makes for easy walking with the giant pack. About 15 minutes later, we

were back at the truck.

A Christmas Story - Part 2

KAVU on a daily basis!

The next day we linked up with Eagle Paragliding in Santa Barbara where

there was an informal gathering of traveling pilots. When I arrived at the meet up spot I

was surprised to find most of the other pilots had never flown this spot before either.

Always fun to not be the only “new guy”. We packed about 20 people and gliders into a

15 pax van and drove up the hill to launch.

Once again, winds were light and it was a team effort to get the wings laid out on the

steep slope. Everyone launched great and while there wasn’t much in terms of

thermals this day, we still enjoyed a 15 minute glide back down to the landing zone.

This was the third and final paragliding destination of the trip before we headed further

up towards NorCal in time for the New Years.

A Christmas Story - Part 2

A Christmas Story - Part 2

A Christmas Story - Part 2

That evening we drove up the coast through Big Sur and enjoyed the twists and

turns of highway 1. Along the way we stopped in a little town that had the biggest

succulents I have ever seen. We arrived late in Monterrey and were barely able to find a

hotel as everywhere was sold out for the holidays. We managed to find an over-priced

hotel but were relieved to have a hot shower and soft bed.

A Christmas Story - Part 2

A Christmas Story - Part 2

Having accomplished our paragliding goals for the trip, the next day Maureen took

charge of planning some tourist activities. She has a knack for finding the best places

to eat and stay. Often while I’m driving she’s on her phone using yelp and other sites to

plan the next days adventures or a place to stay for the night.

Our morning started off at Loulou’s Griddle in the Middle located on

municipal wharf 2 in Monterey. Food was awesome and each table had their own funky

salt shakers. Our coincidentally looked like our accommodations in Mexico. I think

Maureen was just happy to have a hot cup of coffee.

A Christmas Story - Part 2

A Christmas Story - Part 2

A Christmas Story - Part 2

Can’t pass through Monterrey without visiting their world famous aquarium. It

didn’t disappoint and we enjoyed a few hours of hanging out surrounded by the giant

fish tanks filled with all kinds of creatures. My favorite were the jellyfish and

hammerhead shark.

A Christmas Story - Part 2

A Christmas Story - Part 2

A Christmas Story - Part 2

I’ll let you in on a little secret

Maureen and I have a sweet tooth. I try to avoid

sweets as I don’t have the self control to eat everything that's in front of me, but she

enjoys stocking up while on the road trip to have some sugar to keep our energy up

while driving. She managed to find the biggest candy store I have ever seen! While

she shopped, I entertained myself with the arcade games.

A Christmas Story - Part 2

A Christmas Story - Part 2

Mid-day, we headed to the dunes just east of the city to relax for a few minutes

before driving to Santa Cruz. I lived in Santa Cruz for two years and wanted to show

Maureen my old stomping ground and watch the sunset from my favorite spot.

A Christmas Story - Part 2

Pleasure Point

.....located on the east side of Santa Cruz, is a great spot to watch the

surfers as well as wind down your day. With only a few days left in the trip, we had

made lots of fond memories already and a few more to look forward to. The final leg of

the trip would be spent in San Francisco with the last airborne activity would be some

skydiving.

A Christmas Story - Part 2

Both Maureen and I have friends that live in the Bay area so we rallied the

troops and found some brave volunteers that I could take skydiving. Always special to

share a new experience with someone and the weather was perfect at the Parachute

Center in Lodi so we made two jumps. One with my cousin Bekah, and the other with

our mutual friend, Jonathan. On the last jump of the day we were greeted upon landing

for the second time this trip by a local dog. I consider it good luck and one of my

favorite ways to return to earth to be welcomed by dog kisses.

A Christmas Story - Part 2

A Christmas Story - Part 2

A Christmas Story - Part 2

A Christmas Story - Part 2

N.Y.E

The next day was New Years Eve and we wanted to take advantage of the

culture of San Francisco we paid a visit to the Museum of Modern Art. We were

pleasantly surprised to find out the veterans get in free along with 6 guests. I was in the

Air Force from 2001-2005 and often to forget to ask about veteran discounts. Maureen

is better at asking and in this case it paid off.

A Christmas Story - Part 2

A Christmas Story - Part 2

You can’t spend NYE in San Fran and not go to an epic party. We searched

around and found one at the old San Francisco Mint also knows as the “Granite Lady”.

It was opened in 1854 to accommodate the gold rush and was operational until 1937

when a new Mint was built. Now it is rented out for private parties and events. We rang

in the new year with style, to say the least.

A Christmas Story - Part 2

A Christmas Story - Part 2

A Christmas Story - Part 2

A Christmas Story - Part 2

The next day we dragged ourselves out of bed, with sore feet from dancing and

in my case a sore stomach from partying a little too hard. We had a 12 hour drive back

to Utah and the weather looked like it was going to be interesting. We watched as the

drive went from sunny and dry, to slushy, to full on snow.

A Christmas Story - Part 2

A Christmas Story - Part 2

A Christmas Story - Part 2

milestones!

Along the way home we hit a major milestone for the truck... 300,000 miles! I

knew before the trip we were going to pass 300k on our adventure and had been

watching the odometer get close so I could pull over and get a photo. She’s a 99’ Ford

F-350 with the 7.3 liter turbo diesel engine and I’m hoping to keep her running forever.

Well maybe not forever but as long as it makes sense.

We rolled back into Salt Lake City just after sunset and at the beginning of a

decent blizzard. The roads had gotten pretty bad and we were glad to park and call it a

night. Over the past 10 days we drove over 2,500 miles, left the country, returned, flew

3 new flying sites, slept in tents, hotels, motels and living room floors, and made

numerous life long memories. I knew before the trip we were going to need a bit of luck

to do all the things we wanted too, and I couldn’t believe we got to do them all.

Especially the flying! I know not every trip is going to go as well as this one, but I’ll

count my lucky stars each time I come home from an adventure like this.

A Christmas Story - Part 2

A Christmas Story - Part 2

Find Neil in all those familiar places:

Instagram: @neilamonson

Website: Jump 4 Joy

Footnotes

KAVU Athlete, Neil Amonson can be found world wide, chasing his bliss and seeking adventures. His version of a KAVU day is what it's all about!

FootNotes

KAVU Athlete, Neil Amonson can be found world wide, chasing his bliss and seeking adventures. His version of a KAVU day is what it's all about!

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